Mar 5
The 2024 Women’s Prize longlist was announced today and this year the list includes many debut novels. You can read more about the longlist on the Women’s Prize website. The full lists includes the following 16 books (click on the book link to purchase a copy from Amazon):
Read moreFeb 18
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan
UK Publication: 29th Feb 2024
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: ★★★
Find it here: Fathomfolk
This ARC was provided by Little Brown Book Group UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
I want to be Part of Your World
Relight My Fire by C.K. McDonnell
UK Publication: January 2024
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]
This ARC was provided by Random House UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Magic, mayhem and murder = delicious fun.
The Beholders by Hester Musson
UK Publication: January 2024
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]
This ARC was provided by 4th Estate (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Two word review – Gloriously Gothic
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
UK Publication: June 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]
This ARC was provided by Harper Collins UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Vive la révolution
This months winners and losers as we head into another New Year. Where does the time go?
Jan 23
Having just finished this book a few days ago, I can understand why it’s getting such mixed reviews from readers. People seem to either love or hate this book. As someone who doesn’t typically love short stories, I was skeptical about this book but Carmen Machado made me a believer. Here’s why.. Read more
Aug 10
Native Son by Richard Wright
Published in: 1940
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 4.5 stars
Find it here: Native Son
There are some books that will leave a lasting impression on you and Native Son was one of those books for me. This novel put me through the emotional wringer. I cried multiple times, I was often disgusted at the description of violence, I was inspired, and now I feel emotionally drained. I have to confess that I’m writing this review with tears in my eyes.
Native Son is the story of Bigger Thomas, a young black man living in Chicago in the 1930s. When he commits a terrible crime, it throws him into a downward spiral resulting in more violence and a whole series of events and ramifications. The question at the center of the book isn’t whether Bigger committed the crime — he is clearly guilty — but why he did so. Read more
Aug 7
At the end of July, Publisher weekly released a list of most anticipated books that will be released this fall. These were the books that made the fiction category (click on the hyperlink to pre-order them on Amazon): Read more
The 39 Steps by John Buchan
First Published in: 1915
Reviewed by: Jen and Book Worm
Find it/buy it here (free on kindle): The Thirty-Nine Steps
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Richard Hannay’s boredom with London society is soon relieved when the resourceful engineer from South Africa is caught up in a web of secret codes, spies, and murder on the eve of WWI. When a neighbor is killed in his flat, Richard, suspected, decodes the journal, runs to the wilds of his native Scotland in disguises and local dialects, evades Germans and officials.
Book Worm’s Review
Rating: ★★★
Credited as one of the earliest spy novels and set in 1914 before the outbreak of WWI this is the story of Robert Hannay. Hannay, who recently moved to London from Rhodesia is finding life rather dull until the mysterious Scudder turns up on his doorstep and tells him about a German conspiracy to assassinate a key public figure.
When Hannay comes home to find Scudder murdered in his flat, he realizes he is being set up for murder. Instead of trying to explain things to the police and clear his name, he decides to continue Scudder’s work and escapes London for the wilds of Scotland.
Told entirely in the first person, this is a fast-moving adventure story. The only problem is that Hannay is unbelievable as a character. He is too skilled at everything. Nothing fazes him and he is a one man spy network. While this makes for an exciting read, you do need to suspend your disbelief and just go along for the ride.
Jen’s Review
Rating: ★★★
The 39 Steps is a fast-paced and entertaining, but completely unbelievable man-on-the-run, spy novel. Richard Hannay is bored with society life and is saved from his boredom just in the nick of time by a stranger who turns up in his apartment only to trigger a series of increasingly unbelievable events.
In many ways, Hannay is the like the movie version of James Bond (the book version of Bond being much more believable), but without all the spy training — he just happens to be naturally brilliant at handling explosives, disguising himself, decoding military secrets. Mix in a little Sherlock Holmes and you have Richard Hannay. Reading this book, you can’t help but see how it would translate into a great movie. In fact, several film translations exist, including a 1935 Hitchcock version.
The writing style is rather sparse and typical of the dime novel genre. Buchan worked for the British War Propaganda Bureau and this book, originally published as a magazine serial, was highly popular among men in the trenches during WWI. The Guardian listed 39-Steps as one of the 100 Best novels and Boxall considers it to be one of the 1001 books to read before you die. It’s a relatively short and entertaining read — if you don’t require realistic scenarios in your novels. It’s worth reading simply because of its contribution to the genre.
Want to try it for yourself? Find it (for free on Amazon) here: The Thirty-Nine Steps
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think?
